SUNDAY. MARCH• 14. 1954
sp. , /
SPOUIGIAI
SURPRISED LIONS NOW SURPRISING
When Penn State was given an "at large" bid to the National
Collegiate Atheltic Association basketball eliminations two weeks
ago, probably no one was more surprised than Elmer Gross, the
genial Lion coach.
Early in February, when the NCAA selections committee began
to. watch College basketball teams, searching for possible entrants
to the 24-team tourney, Penn State's name was whispered (but only
whispered) as a possible participant.
The Lions were having a good season. No, they hadn't played
in Madison Square Garden. They had no metropolitan newspaper
backing, but they were winning games. Only two losses blotched
their record, Navy and North Carolina State. Both were considered
hot-shot teams in collegiate ranks so the Nittanies had no cause
for bowed heads here.
The whispering grew louder as 'Penn State swung into the
tail end of the season. Then, boom, three teams, all beaten by the
Lions in previous contests, cashed in their chips at the expense of
a slumping Penn State ball club. Pitt, Colgate, and Syracuse all
hung stinging defeats on State in consecutive games.
The whispering died to a reverent silence
The sudden influx of losses didn't hurt the team's morale, how
ever, and it bounced right back in the next contest to beat a good
Gettysburg quintet, 74-61. And that's the way it went for the rest
of the season.
The tournament bid, came with two games remaining on the
schedule. There was almost no advance warning., The Nittanies were
given the last "at large" bid dealt by the Committee.
It was obvious that if Duquesne or St. Francis (Loretto, Pa.)
had not accepted bids to the National Invitation Tournament in
New York, Penn State would have been left out in the cold. But
we'll bet right now that the NCAA brass are thankful things
turned out the way they did.
Snubbed in national rankings, the Lions have become the most
talked about team in the tournament. Their win against Toledo was
not entirely surprising, but when they upset topnotch Louisiana
State Friday night, writers, and fans, took notice.
Here was a team that hadn't won a conference championship
(they didn't even belong to one), had no exceptional record (14-5),
and no All-American, although Jesse Arnelle is listed among the
nation's best.
But yet they were able to handcuff one of the best teams
in the college ranks. And in doing so they may have taught a lot of
people a lesson—the zone defense is not obsolete. Gross' smooth de
fensive unit hai shown that, time and time again for the last three
years. But this week they proved it conclusively.
The Lions held Toledo to 14 field goals and nine of them were
scored by set shot artist Phil Martin.
Louisiana State. was completely baffled by the Nittany zone.
All-American Bob Pettit poured in 34 points but the rest of the
Bengal quintet could find the range on only 13 shots from the
field. Louisiana just couldn't make its offensive patterns click
against Gross' defense.
And for those who claim that a zone team can't score because
their defense slows their offense, there are records to prove them
wrong. In 22 games the Lions have tallied 1467 points for a record
(Penn State) 71.1 average a game. A goodly chunk of scoring in
anybody's league.
A very surprising Penn State basketball team, forgotten when
the nation's sportswriters handed out their weekly laurels, has
played basketball in its finest form against two of the nation's better
college quintets, garnering two straight wins in the NCAA sweep
stakes. And at this writing the spunky band of Pennsylvanians are
set to meet another monstrous challenge. This time it's Notre Dame,
the nation's hottest team at the moment. Win or lose the Lions have
given more than their share. •
They've won two games more than were generally conceded
to them. They've done it with guts and heart. Who can ask
for more?
By.
DICK McDOWELL
Assistant Sports Editor
and SAVE at the
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THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA
Cagers Top
Notre Dame
(Contznued from page one)
range again. With less than a
minute reading on the clock, Ar
nelle dumped in his eighth Point
of the quarter and the score stood
at 70-59. And then it was just a
mater of time. Notre Dame had
time for two quick field goals,
and Arnelle added a foul point
before the buzzer signaled the end
of the contest.
Contrasting the furious ending
of the game, the first quarter op
ened slowly. However, the scoring
tempo increased rapidly and soon
hit a mild frenzy. In all, the lead
chaned hands 11 times in the first
half before Arnelle's two foul
points gave the Lions a 28-27 edge
—a lead they never lost.
. The NCAA field is now nar
rowed down to four teams. They
will be paired against each other
Friday at Kansas City. Penn State
will face either LaSalle, Okla
homa A&M, or the winner of the
Southern California-Santa Clara
game, played on the West coast
last night.
Penn State will return home be
fore going to Kansas City. They
are scheduled to arrive in State
College at 2 a.m. Monday.
PENN STATE NOTRE DAME,
fg I 01 fg f tp
Sherry,f 4 6-7 14 Bertrand,f 4 4-6 12
Rohland,f 0 0-0 0 Fannon,f 4 2-3 10
Blocker,f 5 3-6 13 McGinn,f 0 0-0 0
Arnelle,c 7 8-9 22 Rosenthal,c 5 4-6 14
Weid'h'er,g 1 1-2 3 Sullivan,g 2 3-4 7
Brewer,g 4 1-1 9 Stephens,g 6 8-12 20
Haag,g 3 4-4 10
Fielcis.g 0 0-0
Totals 24 23-29 71 Totals 21 21-31 63
Score by periods
MMOM
__ 15 16 14 26-71
__ 15 13 '44. 21-63
Notre Dame
NCAA Roundup .
At Philadelphia
LaSalle 64; Navy 48 (cham
pionship)
North Carolina State 65, Cor
nell 54 (consolation)
At lowa City, la.
Penn State 71, Notre Dame 63
(championship)
Indiana over Louisiana State
(consolation)
At Stillwater, Okla.
Bradley 71, Oklahoma A&M
57 (championship)
Poster Co - ntest
Deadline Set
Entries in the Greek Week pos
ter contest must be turned in at
the Student Union desk in Old
Main by March 20, co-chairmen
Benjamin Lowenstein and Kath
erine Reynolds have announced.
Lowenstein said yesterday he
had not yet received any entries
but that it was still very early.
He said posters comparable to
those entered last year need some
time to complete.
First in Twelve
Pitt's wrestling victory over
Penn State in 1954 was its first
in an even dozen attempts.
STANDS OUT
in play
• Harder Smashes
• Better Cut and Spin
STANDS UP
in your racket
• Moisture Immune
• Lasting Liveliness
COSTS LESS V,
than gut
APPROX. STRINGING COST:Pro-Fectedßraid....s6.o
Matti-Ply Braid $5.00
At tennis shops and
sporting goods stores
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...
Holy Cross Upsets
Duquesne in NIT
NEW YORK (2P)—Hustling Togo Palazzi and his Holy Cross
teammates scored one of basketball's top upsets tonight by defeating
top-seeded Duquesne, 71-62, in the finals of the National Invita
tional Tournament in New York. Palazzi scored 20 points and was a
terror on defense as the Crusaders scored a decisive victory.
teammates scored
Much smaller than the Iron
Dukes and considered a six-point
underdog, the Crusaders jumped
into a 19-8 first period lead and
were never seriously pressed. Dq
quesne pulled to within 5 points
at the • half, but a quick third
quarter spurt put Holy Cross
ahead by 11 and they stayed com
fortably in front the rest of the
Palazzi, While scoring less than
he usually does, did such a good
job on defense against•Duquesne's
top scorer Dick Ricketts that the
big forward collected , o n 1 y 13
points. Ricketts wasn't able to
stick with Palazzi and fouled out
with most of the fourth quarter
remaining.
Palazzi, who had scored 32
points in a surprise victory over
Western Kentucky Thursday night
was named the most valuable
player in • the tournament.
Sophomore center Tom Hein
sohn matched Palazzi's total of 20
points. Si Green led Duquesne
with 16 points, 14 of them in the
second half. The thi r d member
of the Duke's high-scoring trio,
Jim Tucker, scored 11.
Niagara won third place in the
tournament in another upset.
They defeated Western Kentucky
in the opening game of the final
double-header, 71-65. Bo Erias led
Niagara with 21 points. Tom Mar
shall of Western was top man
with 29 points.
Unbeaten Wrestler
DiClc Lemyre, of Merrick, N.Y.,
Penn State wrestling co-captain,
finished his, third season of dual
meet competition undefeated.
Winning String
Unbeaten again in 1954, Penn
State's gymnastics team now owns
a string of 15 straight victories.
Gola Leads LaSalle
To Win Over Navy
LaSalle won the National Col
legiate Athletic Association re
gional tournament in Philadel
phia last night and advanced to
next week's semi-finals in Kansas
Cty, Mo., by overwhelming Navy,
64-48.
North Carolina State won the
consolation game in Philadelphia
defeating Cornell 65-54 behind the
26-point performance of 'Mel
Thompson.
The Explorers broke loose for
43 points in the second half after
being held to a 21-21 tie in the
first two periods.
Sophomore Bob Maples scored
eight straight points at the start
of the third period to turn the
close game into a rout. As usual,
all-American Tom Gola was La-
Salle's leader with 22 points and
24 rebounds.
Service Fraternity
Pledges 30 Men
Alpha Phi. Om eg a, national
service fraternity, has pledged 30
men students.
Pledges are Duane Buck,
George Yengling, Phillip Saund
ers, Huston Adam,. Douglas
Moorhead, James Miller, 'Lawr
ence Pryekop, Robert Shreve,
William Stiffler, Edward Duffy,
Doyle Miller, Ronald Woolcock,
Robert Kokat, John Lazor, Wil
bert Nace, Walter Fair.
Burton Jones, Robert Thomas,
Donald McKittrick, Robert Dent
ermar, John Sieber, John McCabe,
Paul Ebert, John Schall, John
Grubeo, Gerald Robinson, Charles
Harner, Steven Babcock, Robert
Kralsuff, and Donald Ziegler.
PAGE THREE